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Need a judgement call.....involves underage drinking...

My DH and I are keeping our neighbors dog while they are out of town for the weekend. When my DH dropped the pup at their house this morning at 5:00 am his 19 year old daughter and about 8 -10 other assorted "kids"(17-23) were still up drinking from the night before.

We are good friends with the husband and so-so friends with the wife. The Wife ALWAYS protects and covers for the 19 year old daughter so I am sure that she has an idea of what was going on at their house. The husband on the other hand probably does not.

My DH is concerned and upset that 1) this was going on in the first place and 2) God forbid if something bad happend then the parents would be in big trouble!

SAY SOMETHING! You probably care about the kid(s) involved, so you should definitely try to let someone know who can put a stop to their behavior. The parents, or maybe just dad, may find it hard to cope with, but the real issue here is the effect that this kind of drinking could have on the kids. It sounds like they were doing some pretty heavy drinking and that is just not healthy for anyone, let alone teenagers. Also, if there were any legal drinking age people there, and her parents weren't home, the people who are overage should be the ones to get in trouble, legally. They were contributing to underage drinking without the parents' knowledge.

Ummm, I would let them know that in the future if their daughter will be home, she can care for the pup while they are gone. This way you don't have to be involved in any further issues like this one. I would also tell the parents.

I think you should say something to him about it. Underage drinking is a serious thing, and if one of the kids gets picked up for DUI or god forbid gets injured in an accident your friend could be liable-- even though he was not home and did not know about it.

Answer by
Anonymous
at 12:00 PM on May. 17, 2010

I'd call the police with an annon tip. Then the dad will find out about it and the mom can't keep covering it up.

Answer by
Anonymous
at 12:00 PM on May. 17, 2010

whoa no...dont call the police. that is over the top and your friends could really get in trouble even though they have done nothing wrong. I would just tell your friend (the parent you are closest to) and explain that you struggled with whether or not you should stay out of it but if it were your kid, you would want to know and you couldnt forgive yourself if something terrible happened like a drunk driving accident.....